Joely Fisher
Joely Fisher (born
October 29,
1967) is an
American actress.
She was born in
Burbank,
California, the daughter of
Jewish American singer Eddie Fisher and actress
Connie Stevens, who is part
Italian American. Her younger sister is actress
Tricia Leigh Fisher. Her older half-sister and half-brother are actress
Carrie Fisher and Todd Fisher, whose mother is actress
Debbie Reynolds.
Her parents divorced when she was age two and she was raised by her mother. She was unaware that she had any other siblings until sometime after watching
Star Wars (
1977), when she was told that the actress starring as
Princess Leia Organa was her half-sister.
Joely began performing on
stage in her mother's
Las Vegas act at age seven. She and Tricia toured the world with Stevens, attending many different schools and having
tutors. They then attended
Beverly Hills High School. Joely went to the
University of Paris for one semester. While on her way there, she stopped off in
New York and dropped in unannounced on her father, reestablishing relations with him as she forced her way into his life. She then attended
Emerson College, but left before graduating to begin an acting
career.
Having a weight problem as an
adolescent, she played the "fat friend" in
summer stock. Her
movie debut was in the part as Averil in the
comedy Pretty Smart (
1986), which starred her sister, Tricia. Joely then played Kris in
TV's
Schoolbreak Special drama Dedicated to the One I Love (
1991) opposite
Danielle Ferland. Next came the feature
I'll Do Anything (
1994) starring
Nick Nolte, which helped her career as bigger roles followed.
Fisher's
Broadway debut was as a replacement in the revival of
Grease (
1994). She was also a replacement in the revival of
Cabaret (
1998).
She is married to
cinematographer Christopher Duddy (married
December 31,
1996 – present). She and Duddy have two daughters: Skylar Grace Fisher-Duddy (born
June 14,
2001) and True Harlow Fisher-Duddy (born
February 2,
2006). Fisher practised
natural childbirth and had a
home birth with True.
Fisher played Paige Clark in the TV series
Ellen, and the role as Dr. Brenda Bradford in the feature movie
Inspector Gadget (
1999) opposite
Matthew Broderick. In
2000, she starred in the role as Lucy Hudson in the
sci-fi movie
Nostradamus opposite
Rob Estes.
Her guest appearances on TV include
Growing Pains,
Blossom,
Caroline in the City,
The Outer Limits,
Grace Under Fire and
Coach. She has also done voice work, including the role as
Lana Lang in the
animated series
Superman (
1996–
2000).
Joely Fisher is currently starring on
Lifetime's
Wild Card as Zoe Busiek and also on
Desperate Housewives as Nina Fletcher.
In the fall of 2006, Fisher will star as the onscreen wife of former
Everybody Loves Raymond actor
Brad Garrett in the half-hour Fox comedy
'Til Death.
